


West of Eden

by QueenForADay



Series: Mercenary [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adoption, Angst, Children, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-05 23:22:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6727564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenForADay/pseuds/QueenForADay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a mission in Berlin, the Reader finds something in the ruins of a bombed building.</p>
            </blockquote>





	West of Eden

**Author's Note:**

> I have terrible German. I've studied it as a third language for 6 years, and can barely hold a conversation with someone in it. So I apologise (you'll see why).

You were both responding to a bombing in Berlin.

Charlottenburg. You had lived there once. Then again, you had lived in a lot of places. Being alive for as long as you have, you liked to move around just in case someone caught on.

The bomb had scattered the crowds. It was a good thing. You didn’t need people looking your way as you investigated. It didn’t stop you from bringing your gun though.

Wanda ran ahead in front of you. Red tendrils came from her fingers and coiled themselves around the eyes of security guards. They let you past all of the checks without a second glance. You loved working with Wanda. Shit got done when you two were together.

You split up as soon as you were inside the building. It was an old business building remodelled into a meeting place of political officials. Bucky went for a staircase to the left and Wanda to the right. You avoided the elevators, and took a small fire escape to the higher floors.

Wanda’s voice came through your earpiece. “It’s all clear on the right.”

“Still checking on the left,” Bucky responded.

You slowly pushed open a door leading out onto a large floor space with desks and monitors. It looked like a general office.

“We’ll check in five minutes from now,” you said.

Wanda and Bucky both signed off and you went into the room. The bomb had shattered a few windows, leaving a scattering of glass shards across the carpeted floor. They crunched under your boots. Some of the desks were overturned, with the paperwork and computer monitors on them thrown across the floor. The bomber certainly sent a message to whoever it was that was operating the building.

You stalked through the office, scanning your eyes from left to right. It was a little too quiet for your liking, with the occasional spark from a destroyed overhead wire making you twitch. You stopped in the middle of the office.

Everyone had been either evacuated or taken out with the bomb.

Something suddenly appeared in the corner of your eye.

You spun on your heel and pulled out your gun.

Your body froze when you saw a little girl peaking her head out behind an overturned desk.

For a minute, you didn’t know what to do.

Your training was to kill and disappear. You had managed to change the reason for both of them to something good, but it took a while.

In no instance did your training deal with dealing with something like this.

You holstered your gun and held up both of your hands. “It’s alright,” you said gently.

The girl cowered back into the hiding place.

“ _Es ist in Ordnung_ ,” you tried again. “ _Ich bin eine Freundin.”_

You looked around the destroyed office. Nothing and no one. You thought about asking the girl where her mother was, but it would be pointless. If she knew that, then she would be with her.

You knelt down on one knee, getting to her height.

 _“_ Doll, where are you _?”_ Bucky’s voice was in your ear.

You pressed on your earpiece. “Give me a minute.”

The girl slowly stepped out from behind the desk. She was clutching a worn teddy bear in her arms. She looked unharmed, with just a smug of red on the end of her pink dress. It probably wasn’t her own.

“Wie heiße Sie?”

The girl was shaking slightly, you noticed the small tremors that racked through her arms.

“Geneve,” she said in a meek voice.

You smiled as warmly as you could. _“Das ist einen schönen Name, Geneve_.”

Bucky’s voice was suddenly in your ear again. You could vaguely hear Wanda in the background. “We need to go, doll,” he said.

You looked to the girl again. You couldn’t leave her here.

“ _Sie müssen mit mir zu kommen, kleine Taube,_ ” you waved your hands, beckoning her to walk towards you. It surprised you slightly when she started walking towards you.

You hoisted her up into your arms. She wasn’t heavy, and wrapped an arm around your neck. You gave the room one last look over. If someone was here, they would have called for you. They wouldn’t have left a little girl like this alone.

“Doll-”

“-I’m coming,” you replied to Bucky.

You refused to meet his eyes when you walked out of the building. No one noticed you walking out with the girl – probably Wanda doing her thing again. You bounced her lightly on your hip as you made your way through the crowd and to the car planted on the other side of the street to pick you all up.

Bucky was leaning against the car, holding the door open.

He frowned when he spotted the girl.

“I’ll explain later,” you said.

You put Geneve in first, taking her tiny hands in yours when she looked at you with wide eyes. _“Diese sind gute Leute,”_ you explained, looking up to Bucky. Geneve looked at him and back to you. There were tears starting to well up in her eyes. You ran your thumb over her scraped knuckles. “ _Ich verspreche, dass wir finden für Ihre Familie. Solange das nicht geschieht, müssen Sie bei uns zu bleiben. Verstehen Sie?_ ”

The girl nodded in understanding. You would send a message to Steve. You needed to find this girl’s family, if they were even alive.

You buckled her into the car and made sure she was okay before stepping away.

Bucky was still staring at you. “I haven’t heard you speak German since the Wall fell.”

You shrugged. “I never needed to,” you explained simply before going to the other side of the car and slipping in the backseat.

 

It was a week later when Steve found who you were looking for.

Apparently, so did the bomber.

You watched Geneve sleep soundly in your spare bedroom. She was so little, maybe five years old. You didn’t want to tell her about her parents, but you knew you had to. Once you had gotten home to your shared apartment in Brooklyn, you looked after the kid. Her golden hair was washed off of the dirt and dried blood. Wanda and Nat had bought clothes for her, and offered their help if you needed it.

Bucky was enough.

She wasn’t afraid of him. His metal arm was another thing she could play with, or hang off of when he raised his arm, lifting her off of the ground.

You tugged at your necklace – the one Bucky had gotten you years ago. It was a nervous tick you had. Watching her sleep now, sleeping so soundly, you wondered. Would she understand? Death was such an abstract concept for a child. They don’t understand the finality of it. What would happen when you tell her? You didn’t want to think about it.

“She’ll be fine.”

You jumped slightly when you felt Bucky’s arms go around your waist. “You need to stop sneaking up on me,” you admonished him.

He smiled. “If I can sneak up on you, then you’re losing your skills.”

Bucky hooked his chin over your shoulder. Looking through the crack in the door, you stared at the five year old girl.

“What are we going to do?” you sighed.

It was a silent minute before Bucky responded. “We’ll make sure she’s okay.”

That sounded like a plan.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm dragging you all to Hell with me with Fluff.
> 
> TRANSLATIONS FOR WHAT READER SAYS TO GENEVE:  
> 1) It's okay," you tried again, "I'm a friend."  
> 2) "What is your name?"  
> 3) "That is a beautiful name, Geneve."  
> 4) "You need to come with me, little dove."  
> 5) "These are good people," you explained...You ran your thumb over her scraped knuckles. "I promise that we will find your family. Until that happens, you need to stay with us. Do you understand?"
> 
> yourqueenforayear.tumblr.com if you would like to suggest a prompt for this verse!


End file.
